BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor
Chicago recorded its lowest murder total through the first 10 months of a year since 1965, Chicago Police said Friday.
Thirty-three people were murdered in October 2013, down from 36 people in October 2012 and 44 people in 2011, Chicago Police spokesman Adam Collins said.
Overall, 354 people were murdered in the city through the first 10 months of 2013 — a 20 percent decrease from the 443 people murdered through October 2012, Collins said.
The 2013 overall murder total is more in line with 2011, when 361 people were murdered in the first 10 months of the year, police said.
“While there has been less crime, fewer shootings and fewer murders in Chicago this year, there’s certainly more work to be done and no one will rest until we reach the ultimate goal of zero crime,” Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said in a statement.
The decrease in murders is part of an overall decrease in shootings and shooting victims.
There were 2,029 people shot through October 2013 — a 24 percent decrease from last year (2,651) and a 15 percent decrease from 2011 (2,394), Collins said.
Shootings are also down in 2013, Collins said. Through October, police recorded a 24 percent decrease in shootings this year (1,599) compared to last year (2,099). There were 1,939 shootings during the same time frame in 2011, an 18 percent decrease.
In October, there were 83 fewer shootings than last year and 105 less than October 2011, police said.
“Chicago Police continue to implement a comprehensive strategy, saturating high-crime areas with additional officers, using intelligence to prevent retaliatory gang shootings, moving officers from administrative positions back to the streets, and partnering with the community,” McCarthy said.